Misplaced Ace
by S.S.AERIAL
Summary: "So let me get this straight. You're telling me that Touou's resident lazy, disrespectful, egocentric smug bastard can't remember a goddamn thing after Teikou's second championship?" Wakamatsu's flat disbelief didn't phase Momoi as she nodded seriously, as if what she had just spouted out wasn't going to be the end of his sanity. He groaned. Shit.


**Disclaimer: I don't own anything in Kuroko no Basket.**

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**Summary:** "So let me get this straight. You're telling me that Touou's resident lazy, disrespectful, egocentric smug bastard can't remember a goddamn thing after Teikou's second championship?" Wakamatsu's flat disbelief didn't phase Momoi as she nodded seriously, as if what she had just spouted out wasn't going to be the end of his sanity. He groaned. Shit.

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**Note: **I'm sorry. So _so_ sorry. I just couldn't resist! The idea just wouldn't rest so I had to let this out. And yes, I'm working on Standing up. Was working on the fifth chapter and suddenly, _this _happened. I don't know. I just, I _had _to. Please enjoy this while you wait for Standing up!

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**Misplaced Ace**

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"Fuck my life."

Those three words could pretty much sum up the whole damn predicament for Wakamatsu Kousuke, captain of the Touou basketball team. Momoi glared at him for his crude language but didn't bother to correct him. The situation she had just laid out for him _was_ a pretty hard pill to swallow.

The captain and manager stood in the empty school gym after practice. It was Friday, so Wakamatsu had been all ready to leave so he could privately fume over the fact that Aomine _friggin_ Daiki skipped practice once again – the blonde had to grudgingly admit though that the absences were happening a lot less since Touou's loss against Seirin at the Winter Cup a month ago – when Momoi had stopped him so they could talk. The anxious way she had bit her bottom lip had sent warning bells to the blonde, so he hadn't protested and chose to listen-

Only to have the pink haired girl drop a huge bombshell on him, leaving him in a midlife crisis.

Closing his eyes and counting to ten so he wouldn't reach his breaking point for a full on explosion, he sighed heavily and looked to the team's information gatherer again.

"So let me get this straight. You're telling me that Touou's resident lazy, disrespectful, egocentric smug bastard can't remember a goddamn thing after Teikou's second championship?" Wakamatsu's flat disbelief didn't phase Momoi as she nodded seriously, as if what she had just spouted wasn't going to be the end of his sanity. He groaned. Shit.

"How the fuck did that happen?" he demanded. Momoi swept back her hair and stared at her toes looking slightly guilty.

"Well, Dai-chan was just doing nothing on the couch when I came over to his house while his mom was cooking yesterday, so I made him go out to buy some groceries with me. We started arguing again at one point and he was so busy complaining that he, well, tripped."

"He tripped." Wakamatsu repeated blankly. If the circumstances weren't so dire, he would have busted a gut by now from laughter. Momoi nodded.

"Yes. His head impacted the ground hard and he passed out after that." She pouted petulantly. "I had to drag him to the hospital myself and ask someone on the street to help me. The doctor examined Dai-chan when he woke up and Dai-chan-" Momoi seemed to swallow, alarming tears starting to gather at the corner of her eyes. "Dai-chan doesn't remember _anything_. He doesn't remember losing to Tetsu-kun and-and he's really confused and angry and he didn't believe me when I told him who I was!"

Wakamatsu felt the alarm swiftly turn into panic as tears threatened to fall from the girl's eyes.

Crap. He was terrible with girls, especially crying ones. Some part of him desperately wished Imayoshi was here at the moment. He was a hell lot better at handling delicate matters like these.

Not sure what to do, he awkwardly patted the girl's shoulder gently as possible, scrambling to think of what to say while all the while cursing the ganguro profusely in his head.

"Eh, things'll turn out fine." He managed gruffly. "The brat's just being a selfish idiot as usual."

To his immense relief, Momoi seemed to take some comfort in his words as she shot a watery smile at him, wiping the film of liquid from her eyes. "Yeah. Yeah, you're probably right." Some of her old self came back more as she gave him a cheeky grin. "Wakamatsu-senpai is actually quite smart!"

"Hey!" he barked out, offended. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Momoi giggled and waved a hand. "Nothing, nothing." she smiled brightly and clapped her hands together.

"Well, I just want to warn you that he'll probably come to school on Monday for practice. The doctor said it'll be a good idea to put him in a familiar environment to help jog his memories. The temporary amnesia should wear off in a couple of weeks at most, but it's better to quicken the process." She smiled slyly. "We don't want the team's ace incapacitated for too long, now do we?"

Wakamatsu narrowed his eyes, fully aware of Momoi knowing how much he loathed the idea of an amnesic Aomine running around his gym and is guaranteed to disrupt practice. Resigning himself to inevitable trouble, he simply swerved around, grabbing his things on the floor as he did, and stalked off.

"Goddamn freshmen and their problems." He muttered under his breathe. Since he naturally had a loud voice, Momoi heard him easily and simply giggled.

Again, fuck his life.

**{A}**

"Uh, Wakamatsu-senpai."

"What?" the blonde snapped, whipping around to face Sakurai who flinched at the sound of his barking voice up close. Thankfully though, the brunette didn't run away and stayed put to where he was.

"Wakamatsu-senpai, is Aomine-san really coming to practice today?" seeing Wakamatsu raise a questioning eyebrow, he flustered on. "H-He wasn't in class today, so I was just wondering…"

Wakamatsu ran a hand through his blonde hair that was slick with sweat and eyed the shooter.

He had notified the team during morning practice earlier in the day of what happened to the Miracle. The stupefied reactions of the team were expected, some even gaping like idiots at the very notion that Aomine was apparently fallible like any other human being. Just thinking about Aomine's monster reputation ticked Wakamatsu off. The kid wasn't a god for heaven's sake!

Wakamatsu grunted. "The manager said he would, so I'm sure he'll come."

_Unfortunately._ He quietly added to himself darkly.

Sakurai nodded, unsure but willing to trust his word.

"Thank you Wakamatsu-senpai. Ah! I'm sorry for disturbing your practice!" he hastily bowed his head, causing the captain to exhale deeply in exasperation. He opened his mouth, ready to berate the teen, _again_, for apologizing for no reason, when the sound of the gym doors opened, revealing none other than the person Sakurai was worried about seconds ago, Momoi predictably close behind him.

Wakamatsu frowned, instantly sensing something different about the teen. The brat was stiff as a board, almost laughably cautious as he slowly stepped in the gym. His usually slouching posture was abandoned along with the bored expression he always had plastered on. Instead he looked, dare he say it, _weary._

Now, this is coming from a guy who didn't give a damn about what society thought about him. Aomine Daiki is the most arrogant son of a bitch on the planet.

Yet at that moment, Wakamatsu couldn't help but notice how much younger the brat looked. He didn't look nearly as intimidating as before, his face more open than Wakamatsu has ever seen from the cold bastard.

Wakamatsu was snapped out of his reverie when he saw Momoi come to the front, a forced, cheerful smile on her face.

"If I could have everyone's attention please." Wakamatsu resisted the urge to roll his eyes. What she said was unneeded since everyone's gazes were already on their ace, all probably mentally assessing Aomine like he was doing. "Now, I'm sure Wakamatsu-_taichou_," she emphasized the captain part, pointedly looking to Aomine who merely shifted without moving his body. She turned back to them. "has explained the situation to all of you. Wakamatsu-senpai?"

Ignoring the unpleasant, curling feeling in his stomach with everyone, including a much focused Aomine, onto him – the irony did not escape him that Aomine was paying full attention to him when he least wanted him to – he crossed his arms and directed his eyes at everyone in the room.

"Practice will continue as usual. Absolutely nothing will change. I don't want any damn idiots slacking off, got it?"

The affirmative 'Yes captain!' reverberated the gym before he gave a curt nod.

"Then what the hell are you all waiting for? Go!" he ordered loudly, making everyone immediately go back to their exercises, long used to the blonde captain's demands and usage of captainage. Some looks lingered on Aomine, but other than that, all the members went back to practice. Approving this, he whirled his head to look at Aomine who was giving him an appraising look, as if not sure what to make of him.

Wakamatsu mentally snorted. _You and me both_.

Figuring he should get this over with quickly, he stalked toward the multicolored teenagers until he was standing right in front of Aomine. Momoi was wrangling her hands, eyes darting towards his almost pleadingly not to lose his temper.

"So you don't remember a goddamn thing, huh?" he managed to grunt out. Aomine scowled.

"I guess." The blue haired wonder jerked his head in his direction. "So you're the captain?" he sounded doubtful. Wakamatsu bristled at the tone in instant offense.

"You got a problem with that?" He had to resist the urge to insult the teen. And this was only after a minute of interacting with the Miracle. God help him.

The unimpressed lift of the eyebrow he got in response was almost enough to tempt Wakamatsu to turn and question Momoi if the idiot really did damage his brain and wasn't just playing a prank on him for kicks.

Trying to push down his irritation, Wakamatsu again inwardly moaned. What in seven blazes did he do to deserve this? Dismissing the mournful thought away, he looked over Aomine critically. Focusing on what matters to the team should be more important, not this admittedly petty grudge he had against the genius.

"So, how good are you right now?"

Aomine blinked, looking startled. Wakamatsu stomped the urge to rush and get a camera. Damn, golden blackmail material right in front of him and he couldn't take advantage of it. This sucks.

"I-what?" the kid spluttered, brows knotted in amazingly open confusion.

"You're skills brat." He growled. "You're memory is shit right now and I need to know whether or not you can play as well as you usually do. Otherwise, I'm gonna have to get someone to substitute for your position."

Aomine stared at him as if he had spoken in pig Latin before an ugly, familiar glower barred his features. His fists were balled and his eyes were incredulous.

"Are you- Does it honestly _matter_ if my memories are skewed right now? Do you know who I am?" the idiot asked disbelievingly.

He said it in such a matter-of-fact tone that Wakamatsu's blood boiled by the very sound of it.

"Yeah, you're Aomine Daiki, the former ace of the Generation of Miracles." Wakamatsu replied, apathetic. "Key word. _Former_. So get used to it. I don't care who the fuck you are. You're still a brat to me and _you_ are _Touou's_ ace, not Teikou's. So you whether stay or get the hell out."

Aomine looked absolutely shocked by his words, completely thrown out of the loop. Momoi furiously glared at Wakamatsu but the blonde didn't care for once. Imayoshi had made him captain and he was going to damn well act like it. He still doesn't really get why the twisted former captain appointed him, the loudmouth idiot – he wasn't unaware of his own faults – as his successor, but he wasn't going to let him down just because Aomine was acting like an arrogant jerk again, memories displaced or not.

Wakamatsu sighed, his fingers needling his forehead. "Look, maybe Momoi has already told you this, but all your colorful rainbow friends have gone their separate ways and are in different schools. All of them have improved from then of what you remember, and Touou can't afford to let up and let them overtake us. So if you don't want to play for us, fine. We'll deal with it. But if you do want to play for this team, then you better be ready to train your ass off, you got me?"

Aomine looked by now like an impressive statue, his stunned state lasting for a few moments.

And suddenly, without any warning at all, Aomine _laughed._

And no, it did not sound demonic or vicious like the rumors say.

Wakamatsu gaped at him, feeling like he had just stepped into the twilight zone because _Aomine doesn't do happy._ Sure there were a few times he laughed with actual humor, but that was when he was making fun of someone – Wakamatsu or Kagami.

But this…

Aomine grinned at him – what the fuck, is the world ending? – and shook his head.

"Okay, I get the gist of it. I won't slack off captain." Wakamatsu's heart nearly stopped at the respectful address. Aomine didn't seem to notice that by now, everyone was staring at him as if he had just upfront mooned the frozen blonde as he turned to Momoi who looked close to bursting into tears of joy.

"Oi Satsuki, what's the training menu here?" he had a determined, feral smirk that resembled the Aomine Wakamatsu knew. Momoi sniffled and gave a blinding smile to her childhood friend before ducking down and looking to her clipboard, listing off activity after activity with rapid speed.

Aomine didn't look the least bit disappointed.

**{X}**

The first week was… _disconcerting_.

Aomine of the past did not skip morning or afternoon practice, accomplishing each exercise with such ease that the blue haired teen actually asked _voluntarily_ to increase the workout, something Momoi was more than happy to do. He'll swear up and down until the day he dies that Aomine had glanced at him when he had suggested this, smirking at him while he had been doing a good impression of a goldfish.

At least Aomine's assholeness hadn't changed over the years.

Other than that though, he was beginning to discover that this Aomine was or at least had been – he could _not_ believe he was saying this – a decent human being.

He was of course just as irritating as his future self, though he showed it with more harmless mischievousness Wakamatsu hadn't even known Aomine was capable of.

He was also somewhat of an idiot, resembling Kagami Taiga in that retrospect. He couldn't count the number of times Aomine accidently ignored his orders in team practice. Accident, because according to Momoi, when Aomine got excited over something, things go through one ear out the other. The goddamn sheepish looks Aomine throws at him at those times made him want to wring his hair out because this Aomine was just so-so _childlike._

Not only that, Aomine now seemed to actually _enjoy_ practicing with the team.

At first, he had looked lost at the team matches, looking so uncharacteristically unsure that Wakamatsu had to basically bark in the brat's ears to get him to move instead of loitering around. The brat had looked pathetic with his hands clasping a poor basketball in his hands that was no doubt suffering from the monster grip, face hesitant.

It had taken a lot of effort on Wakamatsu's part to get him comfortable enough to join in with the team. A lot of arm swatting and yelling had been involved as the blonde basically dragged the blue haired brat in, protests skillfully ignored. It seemed to have paid off if the relaxed way he now laughed – the sound was still a novelty to the captain – with Sakurai was any indication.

The endless teasing he got from Momoi for his 'rather sweet' actions later was tiring and made him want to gag. He did it for the team, not to help the arrogant sod from looking so lonely.

Women. He'll never understand them.

Once the brat got into the rhythm of things, Wakamatsu found himself and the first strings challenged by a brilliantly grinning Aomine a few days later, leaving them all in stupefied states, reasons self-explanatory. Once the shock wore away though, Wakamatsu had agreed, figuring he could maybe, _finally_, have a chance to pummel some manners into the brat.

They were crushed instantly.

However, they hadn't lost without a fight. Aomine didn't play as well as he usually would've since he wasn't used to his older body yet, but was still an unstoppable force of nature regular mortals didn't have a chance of winning against.

Aomine had looked slightly disappointed by the win – by this point, Wakamatsu is ready to throw in the towel of ever understanding the idiot – but he hadn't rubbed the victory in his face so Wakamatsu didn't take the loss too personally. He must've gained a certain tolerance for Aomine Daiki because he had surprised everyone including himself when he grunted, "Good job." to the ganguro after the game. The startled and pleased smile he got in reply from it held something close to respect for Aomine, along with a murmured thanks.

In other words, he was someone Wakamatsu couldn't bring himself to hate.

He was friendly. He was honest. He was likeable. He was _never late_.

His whole personality was flipped and it was bugging him to no ends.

Shit. No wonder Momoi looked so wistful at times when she thought no one was looking. If Aomine had been like this before everything went straight to hell for the Miracles, the loss of her best friend must've hit her pretty hard.

But, just like with everything in life, people change. And as much as he did grudgingly like the Aomine of the past, he was counting the days down for when the potato skinned bastard came back to his senses.

Dealing with a cheerful Aomine is a point black marveling and disturbing experience.

**{A}**

"Imayoshi-san?"

The glasses wearing third year turned at the sound of his loud voice and gave a creepy but somewhat real smile in his direction.

"Wakamatsu. It's good to see ya filling in my old role so quickly."

Wakamatsu snorted and jerked his head in his direction. "I thought you had exams."

"Mah, I'm just takin' a short break at the moment." Imayoshi's slit eyes flickered sharply over the gym. "I heard what happened to Aomine."

Wakamatsu scowled. Of course it was about that idiot. "Yeah. Still an annoying brat as usual."

"And where's the 'brat' as ya so put it? Skippin' practice?"

"No. He's getting some drinks for the team with the manager."

A flicker of surprise passed Imayoshi's face before his smile widened. "Oh? Takin' advantage of his condition already? How devious."

"Momoi volunteered for him. Don't pile me up with you." Wakamatsu flatly replied.

"Eh, worth a try." Imayoshi's eyes opened just a bit, revealing intelligent grey eyes that glinted with inquiry. "So, how are you handlin' the situation captain?"

"Fine I guess. It's damn confusing sometimes though."

"I can only imagine." The older teen acquiesced. Before either of them could continue talking, Aomine burst into the gym, looking disgruntled as he carried two bulging bags on each hands with a happily smiling Momoi trailing behind him. It wasn't hard to deduce what exactly happened to make the ace so ticked off.

The idiot spotted him from a distance and stomped towards him, face peeved. When he reached both senpais, he didn't even look in Imayoshi's direction as he jabbed the bags into Wakamatsu's arms.

"There's your drinks. Enjoy." He said sourly. He almost sounded like he was sulking, which just blew the blonde's mind away. Shaking his head at this, the blonde shot an equally displeased look back at the brat before shoving the bags back into the rude younger teen's hands.

"Give it to the others and don't shove things at me idiot." He growled. Aomine rolled his eyes.

"Got it captain." Wakamatsu took some vindictive joy at seeing Imayoshi look startled at the address. A little revenge for the endless teasing the old captain has directed at him didn't hurt anyone. Aomine perked up and finally seemed to pay attention to the older teen with a raised eyebrow. He jerked his head toward Imayoshi.

"So, who are you?" he asked in his customary blunt way. Imayoshi snapped out of his shock and gave a small, now very calculative smile.

"Imayoshi Shouichi. Former captain of Touou's basketball team. It's nice to meet ya again Aomine."

Aomine looked briefly surprised before he narrowed his eyes, expression sharp as he seemed to evaluate the glasses wearing teen. Imayoshi took this as his cue to go as he smiled again at Aomine before nodding to Wakamatsu.

"Well, I better get going. Got to get back to studyin' again. See ya." And with that note, the raven haired teen left the gym with the same secretive expression on his face. Turning to Aomine, Wakamatsu was startled to see the idiot look pensive, blue eyes still following where Imayoshi had disappeared off to.

"What's up with you brat?"

"Nothing, just," Aomine hesitated, an action the blonde still wasn't quite used to yet. "is he always like that?"

"Like what?" it was strange to see the blue haired idiot look so unnerved by the captain when he had been so indifferent to his presence before this whole mess started.

"Like a snake."

Wakamatsu choked at the apt description and couldn't help but bark out a laugh. Aomine looked almost staggered by the sound and stared at him. Still snickering, the blond shook his head.

"Yeah, pretty much. Though I've never heard someone say that so bluntly before."

"Oh." Aomine frowned. "Well, I don't like him."

Wakamatsu blinked at the admission. More and more, he was starting to realize that this Aomine's rudeness wasn't really intentional unlike his future self. The blonde actually liked that this Aomine was a lot more straightforward. Made things a whole lot easier to figure the blue haired brat out.

"Then I guess you got lucky." Seeing the questioning look, he elaborated. "I only recently became captain less than a month ago. There could've been a large chance you would've had to deal with him if your accident happened sooner. Though, you probably would've preferred him more than me."

"Less than a- Seriously?" Aomine looked disbelieving at him. "You look like you've been doing this for years!"

Wakamatsu's mind blanked completely at the unexpected praise. Once the words registered in his mind, Wakamatsu tried very hard not to turn red at the indirect compliment the idiot blurted out and immediately turned his head to where the other teammates were. Pointing at them, he tried as much as possible to avoid the blue haired idiot's eyes on him.

"What the hell are you still doing dawdling around here?" He managed to splutter. "Go get those drinks to the others or I'll have Momoi increase your drills!" Knowing Aomine hasn't moved, he exploded. "WELL?!"

To his ears, he heard the younger teen mutter to himself as he left the captain be to his embarrassment.

Goddamn it. If the idiot didn't get his memories back soon enough, he's going to combust. And that's _after_ he stops being mortified over the implication that Aomine thought he was a competent captain.

The world was ending somewhere around the world. It just had to.

**{A}**

BAM!

"Oi Aomine!"

Wakamatsu blanched at the sound of the gruff voice and whipped his head around to be greeted by a blotch of red hair and bushy split eyebrows. _Good grief no._

Aomine turned around from where he had been practicing shooting and looked bewildered by the sight of the towering red head that was unknowingly his rival. Kagami scowled darkly at him, looking especially more ticked off than usual.

Wakamatsu inwardly cursed at this. This wasn't going to end well.

"I got a bone to pick with you bastard. Where the hell were you last Saturday? Reading your pervert magazines again?"

The insult swiftly turned Aomine's confusion into anger, his blue eyes narrowing dangerously.

"Haa? What the hell are you talking about?"

The red head snarled. "Don't play dumb with me Ahomine. It makes you look more stupid than usual."

"I don't want to hear that from someone who has those ridiculous eyebrows. And seriously, who the hell are you?"

That question seemed to throw off whatever retort the red head was going for. Kagami stared dumbstruck at the dark skinned teen as if he was nuts.

"You're kidding right?" Something about Aomine's openly clueless expression must've slapped some sense back into the red head because his gaze straightaway went toward Momoi who was watching all this with an amused look on her face. "Momoi, what the hell is the idiot on about?"

Before she could say a word, Wakamatsu beat her to it. "The brat lost his memories baka. What the hell are you doing here anyway? Shouldn't you be at practice?"

"Coach ended practice early today. Something about her dad and cooking and a fire." Before Wakamatsu could even begin to contemplate what the hell that meant, Kagami was already looking towards Aomine, red eyes less irritated than before and more thoughtful instead. Aomine seemed to fidget a bit under the red head's intense stare before Kagami cocked his head, blinking.

"Huh. You're right. He smells different."

Everyone in the court sweatdropped.

"Uh, _what_?" Aomine said blankly, clearly baffled. Kagami still was obliviously unaware of everyone's odd looks and nodded as if agreeing something with himself.

"You don't smell as insanely strong as before, like you've just begun to untap your potential or something." He wrinkled his nose. "It's really weird."

"Kagami-kun really is amazing to say something like that with a straight face."

Kagami yelped as if electrocuted as he jumped forward away from the suddenly appearing shadow whose entrance nearly gave Wakamatsu a heart attack. Wakamatsu watched with fascination at how Aomine seemed turned into a statue at the sound of Kuroko Tetsuya's neutral voice, his dark skin paling dramatically. Turning his head around, the ace of Touou heavily gulped.

"_Tetsu_?" he croaked out. Wakamatsu saw an emotion playing on the usually confident teen's face: _fear._

Kuroko looked expressionlessly at Aomine, poker faced and not showing one hint of what he was thinking. "Aomine-kun."

Breathing hard, Aomine walked toward Kuroko as if in a dream, looking distraught all the while. "Tetsu. Wha-What are you doing here?" Wakamatsu could practically see the million questions written all over Aomine's face. Kuroko didn't visibly react.

"I came here to find Kagami-kun. It wouldn't be good if you two fought again."

"Hey, last time wasn't my fault." Kagami grumbled, uncaring about the sudden tension between the ace and the phantom. "I'm not _that_ bad. Geesh."

"You are. It's why the captain sent me to find you in the first place."

"I'm not a baby! Kuroko, you bastard!"

Aomine looked completely lost at the obviously comfortable exchange that was happening before him and swallowed.

"Tetsu, do you know this guy?" he asked in strained voice. Kuroko nodded.

"Hai. He's my teammate."

Aomine's brows furrowed, looking as unsure as the day he stood outside of practice, not knowing what to do with himself. His fidgeting betrayed his nervousness and fear – of what, rejection? – before he started to haltingly speak.

"Tetsu. I-uh-It's good to see you. Again."

Kuroko blinked, not looking at all fazed. Aomine visibly squirmed.

"Hai."

Wakamatsu wanted to strangle someone. Geez, seriously? Articulate much?

Aomine was silent for a few moments, looking as if he was scrambling on what to say before he finally took a deep breathe, as if preparing for something. "Tetsu, I want to know. Are we- are we still… friends?" he said the last word with so much uneasiness that Wakamatsu himself was starting to get agitated from it.

Kuroko's mask cracked at the open vulnerability his old best friend was displaying, sky blue eyes softening just a fraction. "Yes, we are." A tiny smile ghosted over the phantom player's features. "It's good to see you again Aomine-kun."

Aomine stared at the phantom player for a long moment, as if trying to gauge the sky blue haired teen's sincerity. He must've found what he was looking for because a warm and happy grin enveloped Aomine's dark face. Kagami looked flabbergasted at the alien look while Kuroko's smile barely widened just a bit. Momoi was watching all this with a large smile bright as the sun.

Unable to take anymore of the sappiness happening in his gym, Wakamatsu cleared his throat, attracting everyone's attentions. Glaring at the players who had stopped playing in favor of watching the drama unfold, he snarled.

"What the hell are you all looking at? Get back to practice!" With that, everyone scrambled to get back to their exercises. Seeing this, he whirled around to the four colorful haired people in the room. "You just gonna stand there gaping or leave? If you guys aren't going to play or practice, then get the hell out you idiots."

Kagami grinned fiercely at this and instantly drove his attention toward Aomine.

"Well, you up for a one-on-one game? I'll definitely beat you this time." He said confidently. Wakamatsu took a moment to marvel over the red head's brashness and ability to bulldoze through the whole situation with laughable ease.

Aomine looked stunned for only a second at the abrupt challenge before he gave a feral grin that could match Kagami's.

"Bring it on uh," he paused, as if he just remembered something. "Actually, I never caught your name."

"Oh, right. Kagami Taiga." Kagami paused and ran a hand through his red locks. "This is just plain weird."

"Tell me about it." Aomine said dryly. "Now come on. I don't want to get chewed out by the captain."

"_Captain?_" Kagami looked back and forth from Wakamatsu to Aomine as if observing a ping pong match, face incredulous. "_Captain?!_"

Wakamatsu groaned.

**{A}**

Two days after Kagami and Kuroko's impromptu invasion, Aomine came up to him while Wakamatsu was busy cleaning up the gym after practice. Usually, a first year would be doing the job, but all of them had fled before he could appoint someone, leaving him with the grunt work.

Ungrateful kids.

But he had slammed down the urge to scream, which was happening a lot lately, and resigned himself for another late day home.

He had not expected Aomine to come back in the gym, the dark skinned teen already clean and changed out of his sweaty workout clothes. He looked decidedly nervous, an expression Wakamatsu still wasn't used to seeing and probably never would, which made it the blonde's job to ease out the sudden tension in the room.

Grunting, he went back to mopping the floors as if the teen wasn't even there.

"What the hell are you still doing here idiot? Where's Momoi?" he rumbled out. He heard Aomine shift his sneakers foot to foot, the squeaking sound of rubber rubbing against the waxed floors echoing in the gym. There was a long silence before the teen finally spoke, voice tense and low.

"Why isn't Kuroko and me in the same school?"

Wakamatsu stopped his actions altogether at the question and gave up all pretense on working as he laid the mop carefully onto the floor before looking to the serious faced Aomine.

"What the hell are you asking me for?" he glared at him suspiciously. "Shouldn't this be something you ask the manager?" he didn't suggest to ask Kuroko because even he, someone who had the observant skills of a dead fish, knew such a situation would be incredibly awkward.

Aomine snorted, the sound dark and bitter and exactly like his future self. "I don't trust her." He said bluntly, making Wakamatsu blink in surprise.

"And you trust _me_?" he said skeptically. What is this world coming to? Where did their obvious, clear cut relationship of, 'I hate you and you hate me' disappear off to? The Bahamas?

"I trust that you'll tell it as it is. You've never hesitated in telling me exactly what you think of me and you don't treat me like a piece of glass."

He couldn't help but stare at him incomprehensively. "Why the fuck would I? You're the most hardheaded, stubborn idiot I know."

Aomine huffed at his response, looking amused. "Yeah, you kind of made that quite clear."

"Damn straight."

The gym went quiet for a moment before he finally sighed, knowing the ace wasn't going to leave until he had answers. He ignored Aomine's curious gaze as he started to walk over to one of the bleachers and settled himself down. Glancing at Aomine, he waved him over. The blue haired idiot looked perplexed if the raising of his eyebrow meant anything, but he didn't argue and followed, sitting right next to him. Seeing Aomine's intent look, he spoke.

"I don't know the details to what happened to you and that kid and the Generation of Miracles, but what I can tell you is what I remember." He paused. This was the first time and only time he'll probably ever be able to tell Aomine why he disliked the Miracles so much. Whether it would change anything was difficult to say, but the possibility it might made him shake off his doubts. He continued.

"When I was in middle school, I never had the pleasure of meeting you or facing you in a match. I only heard the rumors about the Generation of Miracles, the basketball geniuses whose skills put the Uncrowned Kings to shame. A couple of friends of mine were from other schools and did get to play against you." Wakamatsu clenched his teeth. "All of them have quit basketball as far as I know."

Aomine stared at him, expression dismayed.

"_What_? But, why?" he sounded so confused, his cluelessness so real that Wakamatsu couldn't bring himself to be angry.

"Because you're too good. And while I can't blame you for that in your second year, it was third year that really took the cake. You may not realize this, but almost everyone hated the Generation of Miracles. Countless of teams have disbanded and quit basketball for good because of what happened that year. It wasn't even because you Miracles beat everyone. It was the _way_ you people played. You manipulated the game, played with the players, and fixed the goddamn scores to your liking like it was child's play."

It was true. He remembered all too well the horror he had felt when he had watched one of the matches the Miracles played in during that time period. He had felt indignation and hatred the moment he saw all the Miracles wear bored, cold masks, as if the championship so many teams practically died for didn't mean a shit to them. It had been insulting and terrifying to watch, a complete and utter slaughter.

Guilt and stricken denial colored Aomine's face but he notably did not try to defend himself, his eyes darting elsewhere as if ashamed. The look was so foreign that Wakamatsu felt a twinge of guilt seeing it. While the Miracle had to know what damage he had onslaught, this wasn't the Aomine he wanted to put blame on. This Aomine didn't do any of that yet – or will remember or whatever – and to blame him for his future self's actions was unfair.

Sighing, he slapped the idiot's back hard on the back, almost making the teen double over. Aomine spluttered and whirled to look at him, startled out of his self-blame reverie. Wakamatsu snorted at the look.

"Idiot. It's in the past. All I can say now though is that the one who pulled the stick out of your ass," or less of it anyways. "was that kid Kuroko." Aomine straightened at his old partner's name, looking startled. "His team beat us and yes, that includes you, at the Winter Cup a month ago. They took the cup. They beat all the Miracles and won." Wakamatsu sneered, fists clenching. "Not that that's going to stop Touou from taking the cup next year. We're definitely going to get our revenge the next time we face them, you can fucking damn count on it."

Aomine's face took a strange turn as he looked at Wakamatsu, almost – dare he say it – contemplative.

The blonde mentally shuddered at the look. A thinking Aomine was never good news. Who knows what went on in that bastard's twisted mind of his.

Thankfully, Aomine turned his head away to look down, a small smile on his mouth.

"Thanks for telling me, Wakamatsu-senpai."

The added –senpai that held a heavy note of genuine respect to it made Wakamatsu flush in embarrassment. Looking down too now, he gave up on the notion of not getting pulled into the idiot's madness.

Boy, if Imayoshi got a wind of this, he'll never let him live it down.

So without further or due, he abruptly sat up and started to walk out of the gym, waving behind him as he did so.

"If you're really so grateful brat, then clean up the equipment and mop the floors. If I don't see this place spotless by tomorrow, I'm gonna triple your laps." He grinned sadistically to himself as he heard the sworn curses that were directed at him. Oh if only Momoi could hear her childhood friend now.

And if he was going to have to endure the psychological torture of having to deal with Aomine, he should at least have _some_ benefits from it.

His footsteps halted as his actions suddenly hit him. Suddenly, Imayoshi's words threw back at him in his mind and he nearly whaled.

Shit.

**{A}**

"So," Momoi started slowly, dragging out the word unnecessarily. "are you and Aomine-kun friends now?"

Wakamatsu choked, missing the free throw line shot he had been going for spectacularly. He glared accusingly at the manager.

"What the fuck are you on about." He said tiredly, weary. Like any normal human would be.

She grinned slyly and nudged him by the side. "Oh don't be shy. Dai-chan has been over the moon ever since he stayed after practice three days ago. _And _you're not as irritated with him as usual."

Wakamatsu mentally grumbled over the pink haired manager's scary observation skills and shrugged.

"We've come to an understanding. Now shut up. I'm trying to practice here."

"How rude!"

Wakamatsu rolled his eyes at the girl's melodramatic ways, idly twirling the basketball in his hands now.

Now that he's thought about it, it's been nearly three weeks since Aomine has lost his memories.

Huh. Time does fly by without you noticing.

"Say Momoi," the manager blinked at the sudden serious tone the blonde was using. "When is the bastard finally going to remember everything?"

Her expression took a pensive turn as both unconsciously glanced at the scene of Aomine practicing hard, sweating like a cow. She looked to her feet.

"According to the doctor, pretty soon."

Wakamatsu hummed in response.

"It's about goddamn time."

**{A}**

On Monday morning, Wakamatsu was greeted by the familiar sight of Aomine coming in late for practice, yawning all the while as if he had just taken a long nap, the bastard.

Wakamatsu scowled but didn't berate him, instead watching silently – shocking everyone in the gym, he was sure – as Aomine lazily started to walk towards him. While it looked like everything was back to normal, only the blonde saw Aomine's neutral expression as something to watch out for. As the blue haired Miracle approached him, he barked out to everyone in the gym to get back to work (seriously, don't the players have anything better to do than to watch damn soap operas?).

Aomine subtly hovered – there's no better way of putting it – before finally speaking in his lazy drawl that had gone missing for weeks.

"Whatcha looking at Wakamatsu?" his gruff rudeness lacked the usual taunting, instead holding a certain caution. Wakamatsu snorted from the tone knowingly.

"You're back."

It was less of a question and more of a statement. Aomine rolled his eyes.

"Thought it's obvious." Again, his blue eyes flickered towards him, as if suspicious of his lackluster reaction to the news. Wakamatsu grunted and, much to the shock of Aomine and Momoi, patted the ace's shoulder in an almost friendly manner before smirking.

"Good to have you back bastard." And on that note, the captain shoved Aomine back a few steps before tossing a basketball and a yellow practice uniform in his direction. Aomine floundered with both items as he tried not to trip backwards – god forbid if he did and lost his memory _again_ – and glared at him dangerously after he got his bearings. Grinning smugly at the look, Wakamatsu jerked a thumb to one of the games behind Aomine.

"Well? You just gonna stand there like the idiot you are or are you going to practice?"

Aomine of the present looked stunned by the order before dramatically exhaling, eyebrow twitching.

"Shut up you loudmouth. And don't order me around as if you have the right." Nevertheless, Aomine slid into the uniform and slowly dragged his feet towards the game, though maybe not as reluctantly as he would've done before the accident.

Momoi watched all this with twinkling pink eyes and snapped her attention to the blonde captain.

"You two seem like you're getting along better."

"Hell no." Wakamatsu growled. In his mind though, he inwardly hoped at the thought of Aomine being less of a pain in the ass from now on.

However, he wasn't putting much money on that.

* * *

**Please review on the way out.**


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